Going In

Have you ever come across something in your emotional or intellectual growth that feels like Pandora's

Box? As in, once you go forward learning something, the consequences feel so big that it seems it might be better to just walk away and ignore the lesson? But you can't really walk away, because all the previous things you have learned about have you led you to this point. As if you have taken a path to a dark cave. A cave you can only see the beginning. There's a clear path into the cave. Evidence that others have gone before you. But to enter the cave yourself feels big and overwhelming. 

There are lots of questions here. Scary questions you have never said out loud. Questions that might get you labeled as being different or that go against the quid pro quo of your community. These questions might even cost you relationship with your friends and family members. How do we go forward then? Because the answers to the questions might be in the cave? Or is the cave supposed to be off-limits? 

As I have been reading and learning about subjects I have formally thought taboo, I have come to my own cave. My questions are about fundamentalism, sexism and racism. They are about questioning how the church as a whole says it's loving but then leaves little room for questions and grace. How did we get so far off track of Loving God and Loving People? How do I reconcile the God who has been so gracious and loving to me. Has been to all of humanity since the Creation story. But this same God also commanded one group of people to completely eradicate others. How do these align with each other?

Let's not stand timid at the mouths of our caves. Let's believe in a God big enough to handle our questions, even our doubts. When we are in the desert, when the night is longer than the day, when the

path we have been walking on brings us to the entrance of a cave that feels scary let us remember that our Jesus was brought to a cave as well. 

In that cave He was left for dead. Really, Christ was doing the work to allow each of us to go into the cave. We need not fear our doubts because our God is omniscient and knows everyone of our thoughts. We do not have to be afraid of the opinion of others because Christ alone has called us His own. We are a chosen priesthood of believers. Not called to espouse a party or denominational stance. We are called to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. Which is one of freedom and grace. Completely dependent on the strength and backing of Jesus Christ. We do not rely on human power or opinion. We rely on God's.

That, dear ones, is our truth and power. We do not go forward in life's journey alone. Even when all human 'friends' abandon, we still have hope. When questions become louder than the support of our loved ones, we still have the guidance of the holy scriptures. When Sunday sermons are no more noise than a clanging symbol, we have the whisper of the Holy Spirit. When the light of certainty begins to fade as the doubts grow, we have the Light of the World to guide our path. When all the well-intentioned platitudes and debates to defend your position begin to feel like verbal beatings, we have the nail-scarred hands of our Savior to guide us toward Him. 

Let's go into the cave together. Not because we are confident of what we will find. Let's go because we are certain that the riches of our King are only found among the cast off crowns of the humble.